Who Should I Start? Jason Sanders or Eddy Piñeiro

Tuesday, August 26, 5:18 PM

The Miami Dolphins placed kicker Jason Sanders (hip) on the Injured Reserve on Tuesday due to a hip injury, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It means that Sanders will be forced to miss at least the first four games of the 2025 season. It was announced on Monday that Sanders would miss four to five weeks, so his placement on the short-term IR isn't a huge surprise. Fantasy managers should obviously be avoiding the 29-year-old kicker in all leagues to begin the season. It's unclear who will kick for the Dolphins in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Sept. 7, but whoever it is will merely be a deep-league streaming option in fantasy. Miami did work out kicker Eddy Pineiro on Tuesday. Sanders has spent all seven of his NFL seasons with the Dolphins and has made 84.6% of his 221 field-goal attempts over 116 games played.

Saturday, September 13, 2:00 PM

San Francisco 49ers kicker Eddy Pineiro revealed that he had offers from at least two teams before signing with the Niners this past week. Pineiro acknowledged that he chose the 49ers over an offer from the Atlanta Falcons. While the veteran kicker did not explain his reasoning for the decision, it's likely because he was offered a 53-man roster spot with San Francisco, whereas Atlanta merely wanted to add him to the practice squad as competition for Younghoee Koo. The Falcons pivoted to John Parker Romo, who will now add some pressure on Koo going forward. As for Pineiro, the veteran kicker will be active for his 49ers debut on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. He owns an impressive 88.1 percent success rate on field goals through his five years in the NFL, which includes stints with the Bears, Jets, and Panthers. Pineiro has top-12 kicker upside in fantasy football, but scoring opportunities could be a little harder to come by with Brock Purdy (shoulder), George Kittle (hamstring), and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) sidelined. On the other hand, Mac Jones' drives may stall just over midfield, creating more long field goal opportunities for Pineiro. He's a solid streaming option in leagues with 12+ teams.